Chinese teachers are ‘more effective’ than those in Britain, says the education minister

Chinese teachers are ‘more effective’ than those in Britain, says the education minister

According to Mrs Truss, Chinese teachers are “more effective” than their British counterparts and their methods must be brought back to “stagnated” schools in the UK.

She says that the “Shanghai method” should be brought in to improve Britain’s schools, and excuses should not be made for falling behind the levels of the “East”.

The education minister is visiting the Chinese city’s schools after they were marked out as the most successful in the world in a recent study by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Shanghai students topped the rankings in a series of reading, maths and science tests administered by the organisation. Whereas the UK ranked 26th.

Fifty maths teachers have already been to Shanghai to study the methods that have brought Shanghai students three years ahead of their British counterparts, and have consequently seen results improve back in their classrooms in the UK, Miss Truss said.

Chinese students are taught maths in both small and large classes, and complicated core arithmetic is introduced at a much earlier age than in the UK. She added that teachers in China “follow up” with their children more than they do in Britain making sure that each child fully understands any concept they are struggling with.